AFM for manufacturers: industrial solutions
At Nanosurf headquarters in Liestal, Switzerland, electrical engineers are designing printed circuit boards, while the application team conducts measurements in the laboratories. At the same time, the research team is developing new features for high-end atomic force microscopes, and the sales managers are maintaining close contact with customers. Everyone is diligently carrying out their work. A portion of the workforce is dedicated to a single objective: creating solutions for industry. This is a transversal team that includes engineering, software design, and application specialists, led by Dr. Hayato Omori, Head of Custom Stages.
“What I like most about the entire process is coordinating the team and working together to deliver one machine composed of hundreds of different parts and automation,” reflects Hayato. Industrial metrology solutions are typically designed for companies operating in semiconductors or precision optics. In both cases, one of the most common applications is surface roughness measurement. Nanosurf excels in this area thanks to the WaveMode of DriveAFM, the fastest off-resonance technique on the market, and its broad knowledge in building large and robust stage systems WaveMode allows to measure up to 15 times faster than comparable modes in air, ensuring high throughput. The DriveAFM can also be used for challenging measurements, such as sidewalls or wafer edges.
Despite the capabilities of DriveAFM, many additional elements are required to develop a product that provides manufacturers with a fully automated solution. “It all starts with discussions with the customer,” says Hayato. “We gather as many requirements as possible. For this, we use questionnaires that cover the main points. Then we collect information: what they need, what they wish for, what they struggle with, what we can provide, and so on. There is a lot of discussion with the customers.”
Dr. Hayato Omori, Head of custom stages at Nanosurf, in a meeting with his team.
Every customer has a dedicated contact person. Sometimes it is Hayato himself, and in other cases it may be another member of the Nanosurf team specialized in industrial applications. After the requirements are clear and the order is placed, multiple people become involved. Small projects are usually managed by one engineer for design, one person for assembly and one for testing, while larger projects can involve up to five mechanical engineers working alongside five scientists from the development team, as well as five software engineers and two application specialists. The size of the team reflects the care Nanosurf invests in its industrial solutions: high-tech nanoscale engineering combined with robotics and automation.
“The biggest challenge is that you have a single attempt. There is no prototype. You build the system, test it, and then ship it,” says Hayato. Delivering special purpose AFM machinery is complex and involves multiple steps, but customers who need them can leave all the challenges to Nanosurf’s experts. “We are truly an AFM specialists’ company. For the customer, this means they can ask anything from simple questions to the most difficult ones, we have all the expertise to provide answers,” concludes Hayato.
To read more:
DriveAFM Performance without compromise
WaveMode: Simple and Fast Imaging With Accurate Force Control